MERCER CO. Proposal to bus residents to beach

The project targets residents of county public housing as well as senior citizen apartment complexes.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Local governments have agreed to provide funding needed for some low- and moderate-income Mercer County residents to enjoy Chestnut Run Swim Beach at Shenango River Lake this summer.
Mercer County Regional Council of Governments runs the beach off state Route 846 on behalf of the county, which leases the site from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The beach opened 25 years ago, and the county has been putting up $10,000 a year to help meet operating costs and is responsible for 75 percent of any operating deficit should the beach fail to break even.
The county's lease expired in November. The county commissioners, who have been experiencing severe budgetary problems, had indicated they didn't want to renew the lease if the county has to continue to support the operation financially.
Here's the plan: James DeCapua, COG executive director, came up with a plan that would get money to help cover operations and provide a service to target low- and moderate-income people living in county public housing as well as low- and moderate-income senior citizens.
He said most of the key municipalities in his plan have agreed to tap their federal Community Development Block Grant allocations to come up with more than $40,000 to provide free admission and transportation to and from the beach for people living in Mercer County Housing Authority apartment complexes and residents of senior citizen housing complexes.
The MCHA also is contributing to the project.
That's enough to cover the county's share of expenses, allowing the lease to be renewed at no expense to the county, and provide the transportation, DeCapua said.
The city of Sharon was asked for a $5,000 contribution but said all of its CDBG funds for this year have already been allocated. The city, however, has indicated it is still looking at the request, DeCapua said.
Federal regulations require that CDBG funds be spent on low- and moderate-income people, and that's the target group for this project, he said.
COG also runs the Shenango Valley Shuttle Service and Mercer County Community Transit programs and will use buses from those operations to provide one round trip a day from central pickup points to the beach.
Schedule undetermined: Schedules and locations haven't been drawn, but DeCapua said the plan is to run a 10-week summer project starting in late June with buses visiting public housing complexes three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and senior citizen complexes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Participants would get about four hours at the beach before the bus would return them to their pickup point, he said.
Children will have to be of a certain age to participate unless they are accompanied by an adult. Children who can't swim will have to be accompanied by an adult, DeCapua said, adding that the rules and regulations for the program haven't been finalized.
gwin@vindy.com